Closure construction



July 26, 1932. J, c, FULLER 1,868,821

CLOSURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 11, 1932 Y H H I 2 Fig. 2 I 12 I3 l" dill li r/"aid 6. Elia:

INVENTOR BY mra ATTORNEY of my invention,

"' sure means showing the closure "and the heliflowing out" of the tube whenno pressureisf 90 I Patented July 26', 1932 a I *i v i I UNITED STATES PA E T; "OFF-ICE Jnnnoiin o. rUtLER, or CHICAGO,- .lILLILlOIS i I CLOSURE consrnuc'rroiv 4 Application filed January 11,1932. Serial No.5 86,033.

My invention relates to improvements in stantially the same length as is the diameter closure constructions, and it consists in the, of the lower portion of the bore 4. "The helicombinations, constructions, and arrangecal spring may be made of any suitable ments herein described and claimed. I spring wire. I have found it advantageous,

5 An object of my invention is to providea however," to'employ a spring wire having-.53 self-closing spring-pressed closure construcsucha cross sectional area aswill enable the tion for collapsible tubes of the type comcoils of the spring to'move freely in the enmonly used for containing semi-liquid preplarged upper portion 5 and at the same time arations, such as, for instance, toilet creams, willnotwunduly obstruct thepassage of the m Paste, glue, and other viscous flui s. 1 1 cream thr ugh the central bore 4:. 7'

A further object is to provide a;closure '-An'annular groove 8 may be provided at construction of the type described inswhich the base of the upper portion 5 for-the pura helical springmember is provided that in pose of receiving a flexible split ring memno way obstructs the central inner bore of her 9. :The lower end'of the spring 7 maybe the neck of the tube'or the tube cap.- soldered or otherwise secured to the split A further object is toprovide' a springringand the upper end of thespringmaybe pressed closure means having a bail whereby similarly connected to a closure means 10. the closure construction may berigidly held The closure means 10may,ifdesired,be of in its clos d osition. c v any size and'shape adapted to close the cenxOther objects and advantages will appear -tral bore i atrits upperiend portion'but iti in the following specification, and the novel is preferably madein asomewhat dome shape, features of the invention will be particularly substantially as" shown inthe-accompanying pointed out in the appended claims. 1 ddrawingx. w v i I 1 My invention is illustrated in the accom- Now referring toFigure 3, it will be noted panying drawing, forming part of this apthat the upper portion of the closure means'7 plication, in which 10 isprovided withatransverse groove 11 a Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational and that the upper portion 12 of the closure view of a collapsible tube provided with a means is higherthan the opposite portion 13. cap member embodying the preferred form V This arrangement provides an abutment 1 7 i o meanswherebya bail l may be convenientlyso Figure 2 is a front elevationalview of the snappedinto the groove 111 The bail'l may tube, c g j c j v 1 I g be pivotally-connected to the cap inany suit- Figure 3 is a fragmentaryj sectional view able manner, such as, forinstance,by'means W of the'tube, l A v of alooped ring l5ewhich maybe retained Figurecis a fragmentary sectional: view aroundsthe caplfby means of an external of the tube having the-deviceof my inven-cannular groove'lfi. Q I T tion secured within the neck 'of the, tube, -Nowrreferring'toFigure5, it will be noted a d I r e I thatthe closure meansand the spring may Figure 5 is an elevational View ofmy'cloin themselves prevent thecream or pastefrom cal spring in their retracted and closed posibeing exerted on .the tube. 1 a i tions. p 1 From theforegoing description, it is read- In carrying out my inventiomfll make use ily-apparent that the collapsible tubeis opof a cap 1 whichmay be threadedly or other eratively closed except when the tube is being I wise connected to the neck 2 of a tube 3. The p'res'sedQin which instance the flexibility of cap 1 is provided with a central bore 4 havthe spring 7 permits the closure meanslO to ing an enlarged upper portion 5 whereby an move outwardly sufliciently to permit the annular shoulder ,6 is provided for thepurtube contents to be ejectedbetween the clo- 50 pose of supporting a helical -spring 7. The sure means 10 and the outer endofthe cen inner diameter of thespring 7 may be subtral bore 5. v

In Figure 4 I have shown a slight modification of my invention in which the closure construction is connected directly to the neck 17 of the tube 18. In this modification, the split ring 9 may, if desired, be provided with an outwardly extending tubular member 19 adapted to serve as a spring guide and at the same time prevent the contents of the tube from being forced between the coils of the spring which are not extended beyond the upper portion of the neck of the tube.

In this modification the helical spring 7, the closure means 10, the bail 1 t, and the looped ring 15 may be similar in construction to those used in the preferred form of my invention. The use of the tubular member 19 is particularly advantageous when the collapsible tube or cap is provided with a very short internal bore, such as, for instance, the bore 20 of the tube 21 shown in Figure 5.

.It'will of course be understood that the l1elical spring 7 may be secured to the cap 1 and the closure member 10in any suitable manner. If desired, the split ring 9 .may be omitted and the lower end of the coil may be soldered 'or otherwise connected directly to the inner walls of the tubular bore 4.

I claim:

1. A collapsible tube device of the character described including a tubular member forming a section of said tube, a closure memher, and a helical spring member connecting the tubular member with the closure member, the tubular member being provided with a central stepped bore having an outer portion and an inner portion, the outer portion of the bore being larger in diameter than the inner portion of the bore, the helical spring member being disposed within the outer portion and being adapted to hold the cover member tightly against the outer end portion of the bore.

2. A collapsible tube device of the character "described including a tubular member forming asect'ion of said tube, a closure member, and a helical springmember connecting the tubular member with the closure member, the tubular :member being provided with a central stepped borehaving an outer portion :and an inner portion, the outer portion of the bore being larger in diameter than the :inner portion of "the bore, the helical spring member .being'disposed within the outer portion and being adapted to hold the cover member tightly against the outer end portion of the bore and having an inner diameter substantially of the same length as the diameter of the inner portion of the bore of the tubular member.

3. A collapsible tube device of the character described including a tubular member forming a section of said tube, a closure member, and a helical spring member connecting the tubular member with the closure memher, the tubular member being provided with a central stepped bore having an outer portion and an inner portion, the outer portion of the bore being larger in diameter than the inner portion of the bore, the helical spring member being disposed within the outer portion and being adapted to hold the cover member tightly against the outer end portion of the bore and having an inner diameter substantially of the same length as the diameter of the inner portion of the bore of the tubular member, the closure member being provided on its outer surface with a transverse groove, the tubular member being provided with a pivotally connected bail for engaging the transverse groove of the cover member when the cover member is in a closed position.

4. A collapsible tube device of the character described including a tubular member forming a section of said tube, a closure member, and a helical spring member connecting the tubular member with the closure member, the tubular member being provided with a central stepped bore having an outer portion and an inner portion, the outer portion of the bore being larger in diameter than the inner portion of the bore, the helical spring member being disposed within the outer portion and being adapted to hold the cover member tightly against the outer end portion of the bore and having an inner diameter substantially of the same length as the diameter of the inner portion of the bore of the tubular member, the closure member being provided on its outer surface with a transverse groove, the tubular member being provided with a pivotally connected bail for engaging the transverse groove of the cover member when the cover member is in a closed position, the closure member having an abutment means disposed on one side of said groove whereby the bail may be more readily guided into engagement with and retained in said groove.

5. A hollow cap for a collapsible tube said cap including a tubular body member, a closure member, and a helical spring member, said helical spring member being connected at one end to said closure member, said tubular member being provided with a central stepped bore having an outer portion and an inner portion, the outer portion being larger than the inner portion of the bore, the helical spring member being disposed with in said outer portion and being operatively connected at its lower end to the tubular member and being adapted to hold the cover member in a spring-pressed manner tightly against the outer end portion of said bore.

6. A hollow cap for a collapsible tube, said cap including a tubular body member, a closure member, and a helical spring member, said helical spring member being connected at one end to said closure member, said tubular member being provided with a central stepped bore having an outer portion and an inner portion, the outer portion being larger than the inner portion of the bore, the helical spring member being disposed with- 5 in said outer portion and being operatively connected at its lower end to the tubular member and being adapted to hold the cover member in a spring-pressed manner ti htly against the outer end portion of said ore, to said spring member having an inner diameter of substantially the same length as the diameter of the inner bore of the tubular member.

JERROLD C. FULLER. 

